Have you seen this iPhone 5 prototype video by GamerGamesDesgin? Basically, they took all the rumors of the iPhone 5 up to this point and put together a video prototype of what the new device could look like, along with specs.
Check it out – the iPhone 5 prototype:
This whole business of Apple employees mishandling iPhone prototypes is being taken to a whole new level with the lost iPhone 5 that was reported last week. It is now being reported that Apple, along with San Francisco police officers, showed up at a house, manipulated their way past the homeowner, and conducted an on the spot search of the home and computer for any traces of the iPhone 5.
It all started two months ago in July when the iPhone 5 prototype was reported as being “left behind” at a bar name Cava 22 in San Francisco’s Mission District. Through the use of GPS tracking technology, Apple was able to track the missing device back to the home of a gentlemen named Sergio Calderon. And it’s Calderon who is now being accused by Apple of being in possession of the iPhone 5.
Well the reports are this morning that two Apple investigators and four San Francisco police offers showed up at Calderon’s home asking if he had been to Cava 22 on the night the iPhone 5 prototype went missing. Calderon said that he was in fact there, but that he had no idea as to the whereabouts of the missing iPhone 5.
And now this is where the story gets a bit touchy. According to Calderon, the two Apple investigators asked if they could search the house for the missing device and Calderon agreed to the search. The two Apple employees rummaged through the home, and then also scanned Calderon’s computer, trying to find traces of the missing iPhone 5 but came up empty handed.
The Apple investigators then proceeded to offer Calderon money for information that would lead to the missing iPhone 5 prototype. And even went so far as to threaten Calderon about contacting the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) after the investigators came up empty handed.
Calderon reported that, ”One of the officers is like, ‘Is everyone in this house an American citizen?’ They said we were all going to get into trouble.”
Even more strange is the after the search, neither Apple or the San Francisco Police Department filed an official report on the incident even though four SFPD were present. Apple didn’t report the missing property in an effort to contain details about the missing iPhone 5 device.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Police Chief Greg Suhr said that the SFPD often assists private investigators in similar cases. “The reason we do civil standby is to make sure there isn’t a problem,” he said. Still, he insisted that his officers did not participate in the search itself. “Whatever conversations the [Apple] employees had with the resident, I can’t say.”
Regardless of how things unfold from this point forward, the outcome of the missing iPhone 5 is sure to be different than the incidents we saw last year when an iPhone 4 prototype was left behind at a bar in Mountain View.
Back in 2010, an Apple engineer (who probably is no longer an Apple engineer), left an iPhone 4 prototype sitting at a bar. Another patron at the bar, Brian Hogan, found the device and took it home. There was a case on the device that made it look just like an iPhone 3G or 3GS, but when the case was removed, Hogan realized that he was in possession of a iPhone prototype of some sorts.
Hogan proceeded to shop the device around and Gizmodo ultimately purchased it for $5,000 and then proceeded to publish the now famous iPhone 4 prototype video (see below). And as a result of the video by Gizmodo, police raided the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen to gather evidence about the missing device.
Ultimately, Brian Hogan and his friend and accomplice Sage Wallower were charged with misappropriation and possession of lost property, while Gizmodo and editor Jason Chen walked away without any charges.
And it’s because of the incidents surrounding last year’s lost iPhone 4 prototype that I believe if anyone is in fact in possession of the iPhone 5 prototype, they will be much more cautious about letting that information out. And it’s unlikely that any publisher would actually pay for the lost iPhone 5 prototype and bring possible criminal investigations on their publication.
As promised, here’s the video that Jason Chen from Gizmodo put out last year revealing the iPhone 4 prototype:
